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Provincial culinary and chef manager Darrell MacMullin has been named a Patient Safety Champion (QEII Foundation).

Darrell MacMullin, provincial culinary and chef manager, takes a customer service approach to everything he does. This includes ensuring the safety of all food served to patients and staff throughout Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA).

“I have a duty to ensure safety,” MacMullin said. “My job is to make sure the food is safe and tastes good.”

MacMullin is working to standardize menus across the province and take advantage of provincial purchasing contracts to maximize value. He is also responsible for conducting safety audits and ensuring safety standards are met, as well as for co-ordinating a swift response by NSHA during food recalls.

“It used to be that recalls would be initiated by the distributor,” explained MacMullin. “But not all of our food comes from a distributor. We now action any food recall initiated by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).”

Tina Strickland, director of policy and planning for nutrition and food services, nominated MacMullin as a Patient Safety Champion in part due to his leadership in
“ensuring patients, visitors and staff receive safe food by leading our food recall process for nutrition and food services across the province.”

“When food recalls are issued by our food distributor and or the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Darrell collaborates with multiple team members across the province to ensure potentially unsafe food is removed and appropriately disposed,” she said.

“CFIA recently learned of our process and felt we were going above and beyond their expectations. Darrell continuously strives to improve the process and has been working on a provincial database to help further optimize our processes.”

When MacMullin heard of his nomination, he said, “I was shocked. I’d just as soon stay on the sidelines and make sure things are happening. It’s just part of my job. I’m not a celebrity chef.”